Putting the Pieces Together
by kyla-b
Summary: While spending time at Jackson's house Lydia notices that the neighbor Isaac is being abused by his father and unlike her douche of a boyfriend she can't just ignore something like that. Takes place at the beginning of season 1 before Isaac is changed and when Jackson and Lydia are still together. Trigger Warning: Child Abuse and Neglect
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**a/n – I'm not really sure where I'm taking this story, but I really like Lydia/Isaac as a paring and I thought that if Jackson noticed Isaac was being beaten up then it would make sense if Lydia had as well.**

- Lydia POV -

Lydia Martin was significantly smarter than most people gave her credit for; unfortunately the same could not be said for her boyfriend Jackson Whittemore was not. True Jackson was gorgeous, with sea green eyes, a perfect jawline, and he was totally ripped from all of the hours he spent practicing lacrosse. He was captain of their high school's lacrosse team, which was an oddly popular sport in Beacon Hill where they lived. Lydia and Jackson were by far the most popular couple at Beacon Hills High School which was exactly how Lydia liked things, however this meant that sometimes their relationship felt more strategic than romantic. And she often contemplated if it was really worth it to have to put up with Jackson, he could be kind of a douche sometimes.

Today he was bitching about Scott McCall, a fellow sophomore on the lacrosse team who had gone from second sting to a serious competition seeming overnight. Jackson was convinced Scott had gotten his new abilities though the use of steroids.

"There is no way you get that good so quickly without juice," Jackson declared for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, "For fuck sake I swear the kid used to have asthma!"

Lydia rolled her eyes but Jackson was too caught up in his ranting to even notice. She was aware this was mostly her fault which made everything worse. She had egged on Jackson already massive competitive streak all throughout the week, telling him she only dated the best. But she was through hearing about it, she decided to make her exit. She had planned on spending the night when she had come over, but she no longer felt like it. She had a chem test the next day and although she certainly didn't need to study for a simple high school chem test she would rather go home and get a good night's rest than continue listening to Jackson. Besides it wasn't like they would be having any sex when he was like this and that was really the only reason she had come over.

"Well despite thoroughly enjoying this pity party," she interrupted Jackson sarcastically, "I think I'm going to head home, we have a chem test tomorrow and I'm bored of your bitching." Lydia was nothing if not blunt

Jackson face looked surprised for a split second before his expression turned even surlier than before. She smiled sweetly before giving him a kiss on the cheek; she secretly thought his pouty face was adorable. Then she quickly made her exit before he had the opportunity to pick fight. Normally she would have bullied him into walking her out to her car like a dutiful boyfriend, but at the moment she just wanted to escape.

She was inadequately dressed for a cold California night so she was rushing to get to her car which she had parked across the street. So of course when she reached her car she dropped her keys on the ground. She was bending to retrieve them when she snapped back up at the distinctive sound of glass shattering followed shortly by angry shouting. Lydia looked at the single story brick house in front of her where the shouting was clearly coming from. She stood stalk still listening out of habit. She had become an expert in shouting matches during her parent's messy divorce. This fight seemed to be one sided, she couldn't tell what was being said exactly, but she could tell it was a man and his tone made it clear he was pissed as hell. The sound of another shattering class sparked her back into action.

_Not any of my business_, she thought as she quickly retrieved her keys and got in her car. She had no room to judge a family for their messy altercations, during her parents' divorce the police had been called no less than three times for domestic disturbances.

She sent the incident to the back of her mind as she speed home, cranking up her stereo and feeling relieved to have a break from Jackson

She was reminded of the incident the following day at school when she saw the kid who lived in the house across from Jackson's place. She couldn't remember his name, but she had seen him coming and going while she was at Jackson plenty of times and was sure it was his house. Normally she didn't spare him a thought, he was inconsequential at Beacon Hills High, but the gnarly black eye he was sporting caught her attention. She saw him while walking to her locker before class and paused for a second when she noticed the state of his face. He was walking hunched over, avoiding eye contact, wearing a baggy black sweatshirt and clearly trying to go unnoticed. However it wasn't very effective since he was over 6 feet tall.

His left eye was swollen partially shut and was a dark purple color which clearly looked fresh. Her mind returned to what she had witnessed the previous night and the whole incident took on a darker connotation.

_It sure does look like someone got punched_, she thought, _but by whom?_ She was naturally a pretty nosey person and her mind flicked through the possible candidates. Jealous boyfriends, a parent, or he could have been mugged. The kid was fairly built and very, it would have been hard to get the jump on him.

_I'm letting my mind get away from, it totally could have been an accident and I am being way dramatic right now_, she thought as she continued to her locker. She tried to forget about the whole thing again as she went about her day. But really she was much too clever and curios to let it go that easily.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**a/n - This is currently unbeta-ed and I am dyslexic so I am sorry for any errors. I hope you enjoy. Also I'm still not sure where i'm going with this so any ideas or comments you have are more than welcome.**

- Lydia POV -

She noticed the kid again at Jackson's lacrosse practice. She hadn't even realized he was on the team, which was forgivable because he wasn't first string. He appeared to be a bench warmer if today's practice was anything to go by. Lydia went to Jackson's practice most days and he really did seem to perform better with her cheering him on. Despite lacrosse being a traditionally East Coast sport it was inexplicably popular in Beacon Hills and going to games and even practices was just something people did. Lydia had to keep up appearances.

Today was turning to out to be bad practice for Jackson. McCall had just scored while Jackson was guarding him and she could see her boyfriend was seething all the way from her spot in the stands. They had planned to go back to his place and she was not looking forward to dealing with him after practice. Although she thought that maybe she could convince him to have angry sex, which she was something she always enjoyed. Jackson had his faults but they weren't in the bedroom and pretty much everyone acknowledged his body was hot.

When practice finished she waited for him by her locker like they had agreed. She was growing increasingly impatient as she didn't like to wait for anyone, but he had been her ride as her car was currently in the shop. She decided to go find him herself after fifteen minutes of standing around. Most girls would hesitate or at least announced themselves before charging into the boys' locker room, but she was Lydia Martin and she had no shame.

'The room appeared empty at first. Practice had run late it was almost 6 o'clock now, clearly everyone had wanted to get home as quickly as possible. But then she noticed Jackson's curly haired neighbor standing in the in corner with his back to her. His damp curls indicated he had just showered and he was finishing getting dressed. She could see that his face wasn't the only place with bruising. Several fist shaped bruises decorated his rib cage and he pulled on his grey shirt gingerly. Of course those were exactly the type of injuries that could be inflicted by getting hit with a lacrosse ball; however she was fairly certain he had never actually gotten to play. She felt cold; all her observations weren't adding up to a pretty picture and Lydia was smart enough to put the pieces together. _Not my business_, she thought again.

She shook her head and focused on her current problem. Where the hell was Jackson? She cleared her throat about to ask the guy just that very question and was surprised by just how violently he flinched; he was way more skittish than you would expect a teenage boy to be. _Not good_, she couldn't help but think.

"Um…" she said stalling momentarily, "have you seen Jackson?"

The boy only blinked at her for a second; surprised she was even talking to him. Lydia was used to that response from the male population of the school. But she wasn't feeling charitable so she interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, have you?" she said her patented bitchy voice.

"Oh yeah, um…" she replied flustered. "He kinda stormed out of here right after practice…" He trailed of at her pissed expression. Lydia could not believe she had been forgotten. Lydia martin was unforgettable, she made sure of it. Lydia hadn't been this pissed at Jackson in a long time and she was going to make him pay. She was aware he could be a self-centered douche but this was taking things way too far.

"That's just fucking great," she muttered before storming out of the room. She reached into her purse for her cell as she marched down the hall to call Jackson and demand he come back for her. Of course he didn't even pick up.

Lydia texted him: **You are so fucking dead!**

But again no response. She gave in and called her mother's cell. After four rings that seemed to go on forever her mom actually picked up, she was relieved as her mom was notoriously hard to reach.

"What's up sweetheart?" Her mother asked her sugary WASP voice.

"I need you to come get me at school." She replied with no pretense at conversation.

"I thought you were going to Jackson's today?" her mother said in a questioning tone.

"Well I'm not, can you just come get me?" she pleaded.

"Well I won't be finished at the office for another hour, but I guess I can get you then." Her mother said reluctantly. Lydia kind of wanted to cry at how shitty this day was becoming but knew she wouldn't be getting any better offer from her mother.

"Really mom you can't be her sooner than an hour?" she couldn't stop herself form saying anyway.

"Sorry darling, but if you had stuck to the plans this wouldn't even been a problem." Her mother retorted condescendingly.

"Yeah, this is totally my fault." She replied sarcastically. But her mother had already hung up and likely didn't even hear her. A tear slipped out despite her best efforts, she was fully aware how stupid it was to cry over something like this but she was frustrated god damn it. She wiped it away quickly.

Just then someone coughed behind her and she snapped around. Standing there was the boy with the bruises; she really needed to learn his name so she could stop thinking of him like that. She was surprised he had gotten so close without her noticing, he was remarkable quiet for a teenage boy.

"What?" she demanded coolly.

"Well, um...I couldn't help but over hearing" he said.

_I bet you could have_, she thought.

"And um I was wondering if you know maybe you wanted me to wait with you?" he continued his voice growing more nervous. She just stared at him. "It just that that girl was killed in the woods and then that bus driver was just attacked on campus and it is already getting dark and I really don't think you should be here by yourself for another hour." He continued so quickly she could barely understand him.

She continued to stare at him and he started to back pedal, "And now I've probably freaked you out with all my talk of murder when you don't even really know me, but yeah if you want me to stick around until your ride shows up I'm more than willing to…" he trailed of having finally losing his courage.

She wasn't sure how to respond. Normally she would have shot down such an offer, but he was right some weird shit had been going on in there town and the school was a freaky place at night. She really hadn't been looking forward to waiting their by herself anyway. His puppy dog eyes and look of genuine concern was hard to say no, even for her. She had to admit he looked sweet, something she wasn't used to with Jackson as boyfriend.

"What about your ride?" she hedged.

"Oh I was just gunna walk home." He said nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a ridiculous idea. She knew exactly how far it was to his house and that walk had to be at least five miles.

"So it not safe for me to wait for an hour by myself, but it is safe for you to walk for over an hour by yourself? Some of that through the fucking forest?" She responded with more acid than she intended. He didn't have anything to say to that, but he also didn't run from her venom.

After a long pause just to make him squirm she finally smiled brightly, "I'll tell you what, you can wait with me. If you let my mom give you a ride home." She said in the first genuinely kind tone she had used with him.

"Sure," he smiled back genuinely surprised at her offer, "I'm Isaac by the way. Isaac Lahey."

"Lydia." She replied extending her petite manicured hand for him to shake.

"But you knew that," she continued cheekily, "come on let's go find an open classroom at the very least we can get some homework done."


End file.
